Vaccine Adjuvants

Vaccine Adjuvant

Kineta’s adjuvant compound boosts the effectiveness of vaccines in a novel way and could change the paradigm for generating lasting immunity to pathogens.

Adjuvants are combined with vaccines to enhance the body’s immune response. Most adjuvants work by inducing an inflammatory reaction that activates a chorus of immune cell types, including those that create a long-term protective response. Kineta’s adjuvant works in a much more targeted way by activating a pathway specifically designed to induce strong immunity without causing widespread inflammation.

Boosting the effectiveness of vaccines means that Kineta’s compound could allow development of vaccines for diseases where none currently exist. The adjuvant is also designed to broaden protection from existing vaccines and allow them to be effective for more strains of a given virus (such as new versions of seasonal flu). The protection conferred by a vaccine could last longer if Kineta’s adjuvant generates a stronger initial response. Lastly, using a targeted adjuvant could allow precious vaccine supplies to reach more patients, because less would be needed to generate an effective response.

Kineta’s lead adjuvant shows effectiveness in in-vivo models of highly pathogenic avian influenza and West Nile virus infection. Single and repeat dose toxicology studies show the adjuvant to be well tolerated.